The Philippine Crop Insurance Corporation (PCIC) is validating the claims of 1,752 farmers in Antique who filed their notices of loss due to the El Niño phenomenon.

PCIC Antique head Clogene Galuego said in an interview Tuesday the claims filed in December last year covered 850 hectares of rice land in the province.

The validation that includes interviews with farmers would help determine the actual losses for processing their claims.

Claims range from PHP5,000 to PHP7,000 depending on the extent of the damage.

“These farmers could have registered their crops before Nov. 15 for rain-fed areas and Nov. 16 for irrigated,” he said.

They should also have filed their notice of loss with the PCIC or through their Municipal Agriculture Offices (MAOs) 20 days before harvest.

The El Niño is forecasted to take its toll this first quarter of the year up to the early month of the second quarter.

The Department of Agriculture–Agricultural Program Coordinating Office in Antique has advised farmers to shift to drought-resilient crops and not venture into palay planting if water is no longer available.

Meanwhile, Galuego said they paid over PHP12.230 million to 508 hog growers in the four towns of Antique, namely Hamtic, San Jose de Buenavista, Sibalom and Belison, which were affected by the African swine fever (ASF) during the last quarter of 2023.

“The PCIC is set to release to the remaining 56 hog growers the total amount of PHP1,376,600 this January,” he said. (PNA)